


like smoke between my fingers

by remi_wolf



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Canonical Character Death, Dramatic Wound Reveal, Gun Violence, Heartbreak, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Once Upon a Time In Space (The Mechanisms), Violence, War, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:35:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27297997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remi_wolf/pseuds/remi_wolf
Summary: It's been a remarkably productive day. Jonny's battled his way through at least three squadrons of Rose Reds, and he's done it all at the side of Jack. Honestly, the other was a man after his own heart at times, and he couldn't imagine ever leaving him behind in this war. At least, he can't imagine it until it happens. First, Jack starts to slow, and then he finally starts collapsing as they're running away from King Cole's men. Jonny doesn't want to leave him behind, but he might be forced to today.Whumptober Day 30: Now Where Did That Come From? Prompt: Wound Reveal
Relationships: Corporal John "Jack" Spratt/Jonny d'Ville
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11
Collections: Beguilements and Distractions, Remi's Whumptober Collection for 2020, Whumptober 2020





	like smoke between my fingers

“C’mon, Jack! Gotta keep going, considering we’re almost home free.” Jonny laughed, turning to glance at the other, smiling faintly at the boy, shifting his gun to his back. Jack honestly looked stunning, even in the dirt and grime of battle—or, really, if Jonny was being honest with himself, specifically because of the dirt and grime. After three hours of hiding in the craters left behind from shells and killing their way away from gods-know-how-many Rose Red squadrons, Jack had dirt and blood caked in his straw-golden hair and the look of terror and shell-shock still etched into the grime around his face and eyes. Stunning, and Jonny had to keep himself from kissing him.

“You just keep going. Honestly. I’m—I’m fine, promise.”

The words caught with the vague breathlessness to them tinged with the tightness that pain brought on. Even Jonny, still riding the high of helping escort the last squadron of Rose Reds to their final doom, could see that Jack looked particularly worn down this time, and he sighed softly as he closed the distance between them. Hopefully it wasn’t anything more than usual exhaustion, and Jonny cupped Jack’s face in his hands. He lingered there for a moment, gently brushing some of the worst of the grime away from his cheeks, trying not to think about the fact that they were still on a battleground, even if it was the very edges. It wasn’t exactly the safest to stay out here, especially as he could hear some of the tanks and the like far off in Cole’s land. They’d have to get moving again. 

“Too real this time? You did amazing, though.” Jonny sighed as he looked at Jack before pulling away a bit, hopping on one leg as he pulled his ankle close to his hand to grab the flask hidden in his boot. He smiled as he offered it to Jack, though it was more of a teasing smirk than anything genuine as he unscrewed the top. “I know Mama G said no more, but I knew you’d want some.”

Jack sighed softly, as he looked at Jonny, clearly trying to seem at least a little bit annoyed that Jonny was disobeying order, but it didn’t last long. The vague attempt at disapproval quickly broke into a grin, and Jack huffed a quiet laugh before he took the flask and sipped it before passing it back to Jonny again. He coughed, a confused look on his face as he glanced at Jonny, only earning a bit of a smirk in return. 

“Had to make it myself. Bit difficult to track much of anything down anymore,” Jonny said, before pressing a quick kiss to Jack’s cheek, enjoying the ghost of lip prints left behind in the dust on his skin. “Now, let’s get moving again. I don’t want to deal with even more soldiers today. Bit exhausted to deal with that.”

Jack rolled his eyes before nodding, taking a few steps before wincing as he stumbled. Jonny blinked, quickly catching Jack before helping him to his feet. 

“I’m fine, promise. Let’s keep moving.”

Jonny wasn’t entirely convinced. Jack didn’t usually seem hurt, not like this, but Jack had already pulled away from Jonny, starting to walk towards the encampment again. Jonny watched him, looking at the way he was walking and the slight hitch in his step. Maybe he was tired. Hopefully he was just tired. He didn’t really want to think about what the alternative would mean. 

“Wait for me, idiot.” Jonny quickly ran up to Jack, throwing an arm over his shoulders. A wince and a look of pain crossed over Jack’s face as he stumbled slightly, adjusting to Jonny’s weight, though he smiled faintly and leaned close to Jonny, pressing his lips to Jonny’s cheek, likely to leave a print of his own lips as well. 

“I don’t know if I can always wait for you, stupid. You gotta keep up on your own. Keep moving, though,” Jack murmured before turning and coughing, almost doubled over with the force of it. Jonny pulled away slightly, frowning as he looked at the younger man, waiting until he was standing up to offer him the flask again. Jack readily accepted it, tilting his head back and Jonny waited patiently before taking it back, tilting his own head back to finish the last few drops of the burning alcohol. 

Jonny opened his mouth to ask if Jack was actually feeling alright when Jack coughed again. This time, Jonny finally noticed the fine spray of red against Jack’s uniform jacket, the wet drops glinting slightly against the fabric. “You’re not alright,” he finally said.

Jack huffed a laugh, though the motion had him coughing again, and he motioned off in the direction of their current home. “Go. We need to keep going. Can’t you hear those trucks behind us?”

“Yeah, but you’re—”

“Jonny. Seriously. Move before we get caught in another fight and you have to save me again.”

Jonny frowned before wrapping an arm around Jack’s chest, helping keep him upright as they started walking. “Did I ever tell you about my sister?” Jonny asked quietly, glancing over at Jack as they walked, trying to keep himself from thinking about what could have happened to get Jack in this state. Jack was fine. He had to be fine, considering he was a lucky bastard and always fine, even if he was falling down drunk or pissing himself terrified.

“Nah. You mentioned you had one, but..." Jack shrugged slightly, wincing again as he pressed his free hand against his side. “But no, you didn’t tell me much about her at all.”

Jack wasn’t looking great at all, and his skin started to have an almost green or grey tinge to it. Jonny tried not to worry about it, and he took a deep breath as he thought about what to say. “She grew up on a different planet than I did. Adopted siblings, you know. Weird situation, but not bad. Amazing with technology, her and her girlfriend both. Absolutely blow me out of the water.”

“Yeah, that’s ‘cause you’re hopeless with it. Still can’t believe you broke my tablet last week.” Jack rolled his eyes before his knees gave out, and Jonny groaned as he tried to keep Jack up before they both went tumbling to the ground. Jack only managed a weak moan of his own, almost trying to cough, but it didn’t seem like he could manage the breath for it at this point. 

“You alright?”

“Do I look alright?”

Jonny frowned as he looked at Jack before finally moving to tug the younger man’s jacket off, freezing as he finally noticed the stain of blood down the front of his body. “Fuck. Fuck, Jack, why didn’t—”

“Didn’t want to worry you.”

“Idiot.” Jonny took a deep breath, looking up at Jack for a moment before looking back down at the wound in Jack’s side, the bleeding from the nasty wound that was slowing now that Jack was probably finally running out of blood. “Fuck, Jack. You should have said something, seriously. I would have...I would have done something.”

Jack shook his head quickly before reaching up to grab Jonny’s hand. “It’s fine. Just...look, Cole’s men are getting close. I’ll curl up in that ditch over there. Shouldn’t be too hard for me to hide, and you get running home. Let the medics know. By the time the men are gone, you can get me some medical attention, alright?”

Jonny sighed as he looked at Jack. Nothing would be that simple. He knew that, Jack clearly knew that with the look in his eye, but Jonny didn’t know what else he could do. “I could...I could call my sister. She could help. Get our mom and figure this—”

“Just fucking  _ run _ , Jonny, seriously.”

This was stupid. Jonny moved to try and grab Jack again, to pull him over his shoulder, but he heard a gunshot fly over their heads. “Fuck, seriously, Jack—”

“Get running!” 

Jonny looked at Jack, looked at the fact that he was basically a child as well, barely older than he was when he killed his father and joined Carmilla, and he finally nodded. He couldn’t help Jack here. He couldn’t help him, as much as he wanted to, and so he started running, ignoring the bullet in his shoulder as he started making his way back to let command know that Corporal John Spratt was...likely dead now. Maybe Jack would be fine when he came back with a medical team, but...he had a feeling it wouldn’t be the case, no matter what he wanted it to be.

**Author's Note:**

> What's this? Me, giving Jonny a love interest in the midst of a war with a man that ends up dying tragically? That Jonny acts vaguely exasperated and derisive of in the songs? No, it couldn't possibly be... (*looks at the piles of Tim/Bertie/Jonny fics i've written*) huh. okay.   
> Well! This has been something I've been meaning to write for a while now. Someone mentioned it on the Mechs discord ages ago, and it's been in my rabbit pen ever since, and I thought it would be just the thing for the penultimate day of Whumptober this year. Hopefully you all enjoyed it, and hopefully it was everything everyone who shipped Jack and Jonny wanted. Thanks for reading, and comments, as always, are welcome!


End file.
